One of the truly fogotten but essential bands the past 20 years was the Vulgar Boatmen. Gentle, anthemic rock and roll of the best kind. My great friend from Chicago, Randy, used to make me cassette tapes of music I needed to know, and mail them to me. Turned me on to the Bottle Rockets. I first listened (really loud) to Uncle Tupelo on the drive to my wedding back in 1991. And he introduced me to these guys too. Here’s a look at the VB at their best.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNzvPtfMQTY]
DVD of their story
video: rockforward faves
Justin Townes Earle covers Bruce's "Racing in the Streets"
Justin Townes Earle must have got the Darkness” box set… because Earle broke out his version of Springsteen’s “Racing in the Street” while in Dublin last week. Smooth and powerful, I love this slow-burn version. Pretty damn good sound too.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQbr2og4_J4&feature=player_embedded]
New Springsteen five-song concert – watch here
In an old building in Asbury Park last week, Bruce Springsteen and the E St. Band (plus horns and longtime Jackson Browne musical partner David Lindley on violin) taped a live show. They invited about 60 fans. The premise? Live versions of songs from the new/old The Promise album, which are mostly great-but-unused songs from 1978’s Darkness on the Edge of Town sessions.
The result. An amazing, intimate, loose and intense 30 minutes slice of Springsteen. Thom Zimny (who has become Bruce’s filmmaker) puts us on the stage, as close as most will ever get.
Songs From The Promise” was filmed on December 7 inside the Asbury Park boardwalk’s historic Carousel House. The concert features the world premiere E Street Band performances of four tracks from The Promise (“Racing in the Street (’78),” “Gotta Get That Feeling,” “Ain’t Good Enough For You,” and the title track), plus “Blue Christmas.”
WATCH HERE
VIDEO: Can't stop watching Springsteen's Tuesday performance of "Because the Night"
Sure, the duet of Bruce circa ’75 and Jimmy Fallon (doing an impeccable Neil Young imitiation) performing “Whip Your Hair” is garnering much of the internet buzz from the Boss’ Tuesday night appearance on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
But it was the incendiary performance of “Because the Night” that was the real star. It will go down (in my little book of lists) as one of the great late night music performances ever.
Backed by The Roots and anchored by E Streeters Little Steven on guitar and Roy Bittan on piano, from the opening vocal moments to a see-to-be-believe guitar-driven ending, they, to paraphrase the words of the original time slot/show host Dave Letterman, “they blew the roof off the fucking place”.
Watch the video and then read a great Rolling Stone blog post with Roots drummer ?uestlove, who said “I mean, I’ve done some intense playing on our show, but that was the most intense playing I’ve ever done.
“If you look at the last 20 seconds [of “Because the Night”], all of us are literally in a circle,” he says. “We’re totally disregarding the minute mark and the deadline – Lord knows we went 32 bars over. We were supposed to end after the end of the bridge, but we just kept going. None of that stuff was expected — the guitar solo.” – READ STORY
They reportedly rehearsed for 90 minutes on the two songs they were to play – no surprise given Bruce’s once-legendary two-hour soundchecks.
I can’t stop watching the performance. The last minute is everything rock and roll should be. And bands who want to see how to deliver when the light comes on should study the video. Not tomorrow. Not later. Now.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_8N6nULIA]
VIDEO: New Springsteen from upcoming Darkness Box- "Candy's Room" (live)
- Bruce circa 1978
While it garners far less attention (so far) than the double CD release of the Darkness on the Edge of Town outtakes, the DVD of the E Street Band performing the album in December 2009 at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park excites me.
They do it with no audience.
That allows allows the cameras to roam the stage in a way not available (or at least not unobtrusively) with a crowd watching.
On this first video – from the Rolling Stone.com site and newly released – my instinct seems correct. Power. Starkness. And Steve’s minimalistic approach is revealed: he rips it up on guitar.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tap6gI7ZdU]
Springsteen joins Pittsburgh rocker Joe Grushecky for 23-song hometown show
Bruce Springsteen sweated like it was 1995. That was the year that Springsteen produced and played on Pittsburgh local rock legend Joe Grushecky’s album American Babylon. It became one of Grushecky’s best albums, and Springsteen toured the bars as a guitarist in Joe’s band following the album’s release, in what they called the “October Assault”
On Thursday night, Bruce rejoined Joe for the first of two shows they are playing in Pittsburgh as part of the 15th Anniversary of that album’s release. Thursday’s show was a 2 1/2 hour, 23-song masterpiece that included many from Bruce’s Darkness on the Edge of Town album, which will see a boxed set re-release and outtakes coming November 16
Here’s a video of their live version of Springsteen’s “Save My Love”, one of the cuts from the outtakes portion of the new Darkness set.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dptZn4uH4iA]
show review – Pittsbugh Post-Gazette
show review: Pittsburgh LIVE